Something Old and Something New
by Yawping Stance
Summary: Jack was married once, in the 40s.He's called away to war and she never sees him again, leaving her believing she's a war widow.Never sees him again, that is, until a certain Doctor comes along... 10th Doctor, based on Torchwood ep. 1.5, reviews are LOVE!
1. Something Old pt 1

_Disclaimer:_ However much I WISH I owned Torchwood and/or knew the Doctor and Captain Jack, I don't. So don't sue me, please.

A/N: Ok, so we find out at the end of "Something Barrowed" that Jack was married. In "Small Worlds," we find out that he was in love with a woman named Estelle. I put two and two together (even if they were the wrong two...). This WILL be a crossover with Doctor Who (Tenth Doctor, of course...), and set in season 3 of Torchwood. Since I've looked and can't find who's replacing Tosh and Owen in season 3, I'm going to put Captain Jon Hart and Martha Jones in there for now. ;) Happy reading!

_Something Old and Something New_

Captain Jack Harkness kept his eyes closed this time, breathing very shallowly. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed and laid there long enough, Death would finally give up the ghost, so-to-speak, and break off the stalemate. Maybe he should remove the bullet...maybe. The lead poisoning would've been fatal, of course, but he had been surprised before at what he could live through...

_What a way to die... _he thought. _Shot for cheating at poker. _

Complete consciousness now forced its way into his mind. The sound of people in the street outside the alleyway echoed and re-echoed, bouncing around Jack's head like a madmen off of padded walls. He squeezed his eyes tighter, willing the pain to go away. It wasn't fair: if he couldn't die like everybody else, then he at _least_ shouldn't have to have headaches and sickness like everybody else.

Now, of course, the pain returned. At first just an annoying itch somewhere in the vicinity of his belly button, then a dull throb. As he took a deeper breath in, sharp pain shot lightning and fire all the way up to his throat and down through his knees. With great resolve and a lot of swearing at Death and Fate, Jack opened his eyes, bit his lip, and sat up. Immediately his head began to swim, and he closed his eyes again to keep himself from vomiting. When he was ready he carefully, very carefully, stood up, pulled his coat over his front, and gingerly staggered out into April 10, 1942.

_At least they had the decency to shoot me somewhere private,_ he thought with a bitter smirk, _and early in the morning. _3 o'clock, to be a bit more precise. The poker standoff had lasted 4 hours between him and a man known only as Roy.

Several minutes later, Jack was in front of 3 Privy Street. He stood, considering the door for a while. Then a sharp stab reminded him of why he was standing outside the building in the first place and he entered without knocking. He shut the door quietly behind him and even took off his boots to try to tiptoe down the hallway, but as soon as his foot landed on the floor, a light flicked on in the next room and a voice whisper his name hoarsely. Jack whipped around, staring wildly around the room.

"Estelle!" he whispered back. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"Don't swear, Jack," she admonished, flicking out the light again and waiting until her eyes adjusted to try to find her way.

"Sorry," he apologized to the dark.

"No, you're not. Come on, then." He felt her arm slide around his elbow, gently guiding him to the last room down the hall. Hers. She made sure the door was closed and a towel pushed up to the crack under the doorway before turning on the light. "Why are you so late? And—bloody hell, you're bleeding!"

"Don't swear, Estelle," he tried to tease, flashing a debonair smile at her. "Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in a poker game." Her shocked face dropped and in its place were pursed lips and hard eyes. She put her fists on her hips.

"You got stabbed for a poker game?"

"Shot, actually." She sighed.

"What do I need to get?"

"Gauze, iodine, maybe tweezers."

"_Maybe_ tweezers? You'll need to get the bullet out somehow." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll get the tweezers." Quietly she snuck out of the door, past her mother's room, and out of sight.


	2. Something Old pt 2

_Disclaimer_: Still don't own. Please don't kill me.

A/N: I already had it typed up, so I figured why not add another chapter?

_Something Old and Something New_

Estelle Colton, barely 18 and in possession of Jack's stubbornly-functioning heart. They had met the previous year a few weeks before Christmas at a party in London. The Estoria Ballroom, he would never forget. He had at once made a fool of himself, something Captain Jack Harkness would _never_ do under normal circumstances, by comparing the deep green of her dress to that of an Amazonian toad. He'd meant to say "forgotten meadow grass of June passed," but he'd been thinking of an article he'd read earlier and "Amazonian toad" had slipped out instead after much stumbling over his own words. To his great surprise, this endeared her to him much more quickly than any of his usual suave pickups would have. After he'd regained his composure, they'd talked and danced the night away, only to have it end with a quiet threat in a private corner from Estelle's brother and father.

Jack had been able to control himself and respect their wishes for a grand total of half a week. Once the men of the house had been shipped off to war, he was around almost every night to see her. Of course, being a gentleman, he'd made sure that nothing _honor-compromising_ had happened, just a kiss or two exchanged during the course of the evening; but her room was the only place they could meet privately without her mother's friend Mrs. So-And-So spotting them and telling Mrs. Colton. Indecorous as he knew the whole thing was, Jack couldn't stay away: The moment he'd seen her, he knew he was in love with her.

Estelle re-entered the room, supplies and a wet cloth in hand and her long dark hair tied back with a yellow ribbon. Jack raised his eyebrow. Estelle returned the gesture.

"What?"

"You think _you're _going to do it?"

"Why not?"

"Are you a doctor?"

"Are you?" Jack had nothing to say to this. He sat back and grumbled. "I thought not. Now, take off your coat and put it on the bed."

"What? Why?"

"So that you don't get blood all over the bed spread!"

Concerned for him though she was, since he clearly wasn't dying, Estelle was first and foremost a neat-freak. Jack rolled his eyes and did what he was told, laying flat out on his back. She knelt down beside the bed, reached out her hand, then drew it back, turning incredibly pink.

"What?"

"You'll...you'll have to remove your suspenders."

Jack tried to hide a grin at her modesty and slipped them over his shoulders, then laid back down. She blushed even more as he un-tucked his shirt and undid the bottom few buttons. If Estelle could've removed the bullet while averting her eyes, she would've. Gingerly she wiped off the blood around the wound with the cloth.

"Have you ever done this before?" Jack asked.

"No."

_Great_, he thought. He tried not to let his nervousness show on his face. Sure, he couldn't die, but he still wasn't too keen on the pain of having an amateur removing a bullet from his stomach.

Estelle took a deep breath and waited for her hand to stop shaking before leaning over Jack's stomach and carefully plucking at the bullet with the long tweezers. Jack's fists clenched the jacket beneath him and she heard him breathe in sharply.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"No, no, it's okay...I've had worse..." And he had, but it still didn't exactly tickle.

"You're lucky. A few more inches and that bullet probably would've killed you." She made another effort at it, actually managing to grab the bullet this time. Jack realized vaguely through the pain that his body must've been rejecting the bullet. Rather handy...

"Jesus H. Christ!"

"Don't swear, Jack."

"Well, it hurts!!" He no longer felt anything in the wound, and all that was left was an intense stinging, burning sensation.

"All done. That wasn't too hard, was it?" Estelle wrapped the bullet in the cloth and set it beside her and began dressing the wound.

"Yeah, easy for you to say. You didn't just have a bullet removed with non-sterile tweezers!" Estelle looked sharply up at him, offended.

"I sterilized them!"

"Sorry." Too late. She pursed her lips and concentrated on dressing the wound, seeming to take more pleasure than was necessary in dropping iodine into the bullet hole. Jack bit his tongue and tried not to swear.

"There." After the gauze was applied, the burning began to fade a little. Estelle re-buttoned his shirt for him and stood up. She still had a hard look in her eyes.

"Estelle, I'm sorry. I didn't think you had-"

"You thought I was so bubble-headed as to not sterilize equipment? My mother _is_ a nurse, Jack. She _has_ taught me a few things, you know."

"Like not to hang around with a good-for-nothing Casanova soldier like me?" He grinned as he saw her eyes soften and her mouth contort weirdly to hide a smile. "Come on." He motioned to the end of the bed as he pushed himself up.

"No." She may have been able to sort-of hide a smile on her face, but the smile in her voice was undeniable.

"Estelle?" he called in a sing-songy voice. "'Stella Blue Eyes?"

"_No_." He leaned forward and she jumped as he goosed her. "_No!_"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm angry!"

"No you aren't."

"Yes I am!" He grabbed her waist and pulled her back onto the bed with him.

"What about now?" She turned away from him and crossed her arms. He leaned around and kissed her cheek. "Now?" She just pursed her lips and went to stand back up, but Jack held on tight. "Oh no you don't!" With his free hand, he poked her in the ribs. She bent sideways, but it was no use; this time he poked her in the belly.

"Sto-o-o-op!"

"Say you love me."

"No!" She squealed as he poked her other side.

"Say you love me!"

"No!" Estelle curled her knees into her chest and tried to keep herself from laughing as Jack tickled her belly.

"Say you love me!" he insisted again.

"Alright, alright, I love you! I love you!" She turned to face him when he stopped tickling her. "I. Love. You. Captain Jack Harkness." The grin had faded from his face, but was still in his eyes.

"And I love you, Miss Estelle Colton." He put a hand on her cheek and kissed her. Once the kiss was finally broken, Estelle leaned back into Jack's chest and let her head fall back onto his shoulder.

"I really do love you, Jack." She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.

"Marry me." Her eyes flew open again.

"Is that a question or a command?" She wondered if he was just joking...

"_Will_ you marry me, Estelle?" Her heart suddenly beat double-time.

"You shouldn't joke like that, Jack." He sat up and turned her face to him, capturing her eyes with his.

"It's not a joke. I know I haven't got a diamond ring for you, I haven't got any prospects other than being a soldier, no money, no real home...But I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life." As though _that_ would happen... "I've never loved any other woman like I love you."

He slid out from behind her and knelt down on the floor in front of the bed. Suddenly, he experienced an emotion he never had before: he was _nervous_. A lump had appeared in his throat that he found hard to swallow. He took her hand and looked at her.

"Estelle Colton, will you marry me?"

Estelle bit her lip and tried to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling out onto her cheeks. No such luck. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she merely nodded.

* * *

Patience, the Doctor comes in soon!


	3. Something New pt 1

_Disclaimer_: No disclaimer! I bribed the creators and the BBC with 10 (yes, American dollars...) apiece and they gave me the rights!! ...Yeah...

A/N: How could I forget! I would like to thank my beautiful beta and friend Shoyru31 for helping me make my stories make sense! Also, to those of you reading this for the Doctor (though he may or may not play a big part, I haven't decided yet), he'll definitely show up next chapter!

_Something Old and Something New_

June 13, 1942

"We did it." Estelle slid her fingers between Jack's.

"Yeah." He grinned and held open for her the door to town hall. She squeezed his hand as she stepped out into the sunlight, seen in the world for the first time as Mrs. Estelle Harkness.

"So where to now?" she asked, looking at Jack. "I can't very well stay here. Mother and Father will find out eventually...But it would break poor mother's heart if I left!" She stopped on the steps, now torn between her husband and her family.

"I've got an apartment in Cardiff," Jack suggested. "We could live there a while until things settle down here." Estelle bit her lip.

"I suppose we'd have to, wouldn't we?" She took a deep breath to clear her head. She'd never been this impulsive before.

"Come on, then." Jack squeezed her hand and guided her in the general direction of the train station.

On the way west from London to Cardiff, Estelle was unnaturally quiet. She sat staring back and forth from her luggage in front of them to the ring on her finger Jack had saved up for in the past few months. It wasn't much, just a silver band with a pretty design engraved, but it symbolized everything that mattered in her life: her past, her present here on the train giving up everything that her family had given her, and their future together.

It was that second one that was bothering her. She could hear her mother now, wondering out loud when she found the note what her parents had done, where they'd gone wrong. And what had they done? They'd given her a stable, loving home and taught her how to be a lady; they'd introduced her to good society; they'd given her the world. And this was how she was repaying them? By running off with who her father had told her numerous times was a good-for-nothing Casanova Yank? A soldier?

"Jack, we need to turn around." His face fell quickly into concern, indicating that her thoughts had shown on her face.

"You haven't had second thoughts, have you? I mean, after all the plans we made..." She shook her head.

"No, I just think that...That instead of running away, I should tell my parents and live with the consequences...in London." Jack sighed.

"They won't understand. They never have. Stella, I know you love them; they're your parents, you ought to. And they love you. But because they love you doesn't mean they understand what you feel." Estelle bit her lip.

"I know. I just...I can't bear to imagine Mum crying because of what _I_ did to her." Jack took her hand and looked at her.

"But how many _more_ tears would you cause her because of the scandal? I mean, the families of girls that get married to American soldiers right under their parents' noses and without consent: How does living like that sound to you? This way she can at least lie and say that you just ran off on your own." Estelle remained silent. Jack tilted her chin towards him and made her look at him. "I love you, Estelle, and I want this to be our new life together. Do you?" She sniffed and nodded. He kissed her gently. "Then let it go." She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder.

The next few months went well. After a few weeks, Estelle reestablished a correspondence with her mother: The letters exchanged were cold and formal, but for Estelle it was at least an indication that her mother hadn't disowned her, which was enough for her. She found work at a florist, earning enough to help Jack pay bills and feed them, and set up house, overhauling the decorations in Jack's bachelor apartment to make it more suitable for a married couple.

"When we have friends around, we don't want them looking around and thinking that I'm just your mistress posing as your wife, or that _I _have bad decorating sense too, do we?" was always her rationale when Jack came home and found yet another piece of his apartment "girlified." He gave up the argument that they didn't have any friends after he learned that she would always insist that they "will eventually." He never admitted to her, though, that there were _some_ choices she made that he preferred to his Spartan living style.

And then the letter came.

It came on a warm July morning. Estelle stood at the stove, moving bacon around in a pan and chattering in her morning-person-ish way. Jack grunted every now and then to let her know he was listening, but mostly he nursed his mug of strong black coffee and glared around the kitchen with half-lidded eyes. She set the plate of eggs and bacon down in front of him, and began to walk back to the stove to make her own breakfast. She stopped halfway there.

"Oh, but I suppose I should go check the post, shouldn't I? I forgot about it last night. Did you check?" Jack mutely shook his head. "Alright, then, I'll be right back." She quickly took her hair down out of the braid it had been and brushed through it before slipping on a pair of slippers to walk down the three flights of stairs to the bank of mailboxes at the bottom, near the front door. On her way back up she glanced through the five or so envelopes to see from whom or where they were. Most were bills, but one was addressed to Jack from the offices of some general or commander or Estelle didn't know what.

"Anything that won't make us broke?" Jack asked as Estelle kicked the door to and slid her feet out of the slippers.

"Just this." She handed the envelope to him. She tried to pretend to him and to herself that she didn't know what the letter was by acting normal. She poured herself a second cup of coffee and sat down across the table from her husband.

She held her breath, however, as he read through it once and his brow creased between his eyebrows. Once more and he squinted at it, as if he couldn't see properly. After a third time of reading the letter, Jack finally looked up at his wife.

"Well?" she asked expectantly. "What does it say?"

"It says," he rasped. His mouth had suddenly gone dry. He took a sip of coffee. "It says that I'm to report for duty on the 16th. I've been stationed in Germany." Estelle's mug thumped to the table and she raised her shaking hands to her face.

July 16, 1942

Estelle held onto Jack and delayed him as long as he could. He tried to pull away.

"Darling, I'll miss my train."

"That's the point!" she half-yelled into his shoulder. Her grip around his ribs tightened. "You don't have to go."

"If I don't, _they'll_ come to _me_. And just think of all those filthy soldiers ruining your hard decoration work," he added lightly. Her laugh came in a short burst, the kind of laugh that she didn't want to escape, but it did despite the situation. As the train whistled a warning, she let go of him. Her tearstained face lifted out of his shoulder finally and looked at him.

"But what if you don't come back?" she sniffed. He graced her with one of his heart-melting grins.

"Don't worry. I will. I promise."

"Then here." She reached up and pulled the yellow ribbon-her favorite-from her hair and pressed it into his palm. "Take it. To remind you of home." He closed his hand over it and held it to his lips. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Whatever happens Stella, I will always love you. Remember that." She nodded and swallowed back more tears.

"Promise me you'll write."

"Every day."

Estelle held Jack's hand until he boarded the train. Kissing him one last time, she let him step on. He made sure to find a window seat and leaned out it, waving goodbye to her. She reached up to grab his hand and stood on tiptoe to kiss his fingertips. When the train started up, she ran with it as far as she could, not letting go of his hand. Finally, she was forced to stop and let his fingers finally slide away from her palm.

An hour later, Jack was jolted awake by the train stopping suddenly. His hand went discreetly to his gun as he heard footsteps down the corridor. As the compartment door slid open, he rolled his eyes.

"_You_ two again?! I thought I'd shaken you!"

"It's good to know that you obey your civic duties, Captain," the dark-haired woman said. His eyes widened.

"_You_ sent the letter?" She smiled a humorless, thin-lipped smile as the man beside her yanked Jack out of his seat.

"You belong to Torchwood, Jack. I thought you would've learned that by now." He struggled as the man pulled him down the corridor. He knew the rules about telling loved ones: You didn't.

"No, you don't understand! I've got a wife back home! She doesn't know about Torchwood, she'll think something's happened to me!"

"Yes, Jack, of course," the woman taunted as he was forced into a car. "Back to Canary Warf with you, then."


	4. Something New pt 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything, blah...blah...blah...**

A/N: You can't see me, but I'm grovelling for forgiveness at making it such a late update! Also, many thanks to my sole reviewer, The Tenth Doctor's Companion. A request also: I can see you all! I can see that you're reading this! I only ask that you take a few minutes out of your day to click on that purplish-blue button down there and review. Yes, I'm a review whore, what can I say? But it's a nice thing to do, anyways.

May 23, 1945

Estelle kept her eyes closed, but frowned as she slowly awoke to a weird noise that sounded halfway between a scraping and a whirring. It was coming from near the Evanses, down the street, and they were an odd bunch anyways. With regret, she realized that it was Monday morning. Another day at the florist's. Another day without Jack.

After the first month or two, Estelle had realized that Jack wasn't coming back. He hadn't even written once to let her know he'd gotten there alright. She figured that he'd either met another woman or had died before he could write to her. She preferred to think the latter; she was certain Jack was a better man than that, but her little pessimistic voice in the back of her mind told her that that's what so many other new brides thought, and look at them. She never listened to that voice much, though.

After prying her eyes open, she quickly got dressed and made breakfast for herself. Three flights of stairs and nine blocks later, she was nearing the flower shop _Capilla's_, but the usually quiet street was full of crashing and banging noises originating from her place of employment. She stopped a few shop doors away and listened to the commotion, only running to see what was happening and if she could help when she saw smoke seeping through the cracks of the door.

After yanking the door open, she crawled under the smoke behind the counter, where a man in a brown suit was crouching. He was pointing some sort of thing that was glowing blue and another sort of thing that was...the only words Estelle could think of were thing-like, but that didn't work, did it? Estelle looked at him for a few moments, puzzled, before she realized that she ought to figure out what's going on.

"Who on Earth are you?" she demanded. The man looked up and grinned. Estelle couldn't help but notice, despite things being flung at them and the smoke everywhere, that it was a warm, pleasant grin; one that said he was genuinely happy that you were here.

"Oh me?" the grinning man said pleasantly, "I'm the Doctor. And I believe you've got a Silastic Armourfiend problem."

"A _what_??"

"Silastic Armourfiend," he said simply. "Plant-like life forms, very aggressive but rather thick, so they're pretty harmless. Unless, of course, they choose to break intergalactic law like this one and breed on a Class Five planet." Estelle blinked at him.

"I'm sure that was plain English, but would you mind translating for me?" The Doctor flashed another smile.

"Certainly! In just a moment..." He pushed a button on the thing-like thing and a wave swept through the shop. Immediately, the moisture was pulled out of the air and the plants--and Silastic Armour-thing--wilted, turned brown, shriveled up, and died. Estelle felt her hair go frizzy and start sticking to the back of her neck. The Doctor stood up, and Estelle stood with him.

"So...what do I tell Mr. Finny when he comes in and sees all the flowers dead and the shop destroyed?" she asked. The Doctor pointed to the shriveled mass that had been the Silastic Armourfiend.

"You don't have to." Estelle's mouth dropped open.

"You mean that was...?" The Doctor nodded. She was silent for a moment, then a thought came to her. "But what if there's an inquiry? I mean, the police will be asking me questions and it'll all seem very suspicious, won't it?" The Doctor sighed in fake disappointment.

"Well, then, I suppose you'll just have to come with me."

"Come with you? Where?" He shrugged.

"Anywhere. Any_when_." Estelle frowned.

"Anywhen?"

"Yeah," he said simply.

"I'm not sure what you mean." The Doctor slid up onto the counter and looked at her, swinging his feet back and forth.

"Have you ever felt like there was something out there? Like there was more to life than Earth, more than just the here and now? Haven't you ever wanted to travel, to visit the past?" He cocked his head to the side. "Visit the future?"

"You can do that?" He nodded. Estelle thought for a few minutes, looking around at the shriveled plants. "Ok," she finally decided. "I'll do it." The Doctor grinned.

"Great! Let's go, then." He started for the door, then stopped. "Oh, I didn't catch your name by the way. What is it?"

"Estelle H--Colton. My name is Estelle Colton."

"Well, Estelle Colton, prepare for the adventure of a lifetime!" He grinned, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her out the door and down the street. They came to a stop before a blue police call box stationed next to a dumpster. Estelle raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"This is it?" The Doctor smiled.

"Yup!"

"But...it's a call box..." The Doctor fumbled with a key for a moment, then opened the door.

"Don't let appearances fool you. Alonz-y!" He held the door open for her. As she stepped over the threshold, her jaw dropped. "It's always bigger on the inside." He shut the door behind himself and walked over to the central unit and started messing with levers and buttons.

"What _is_ this?" Estelle merely stood, gawping at the interior of the box.

"It's called a TARDIS; Time And Relative Dimensions In Space."

"A...time machine?"

"If you want to put it that way, yes. Now...hold on!"

There were a few moments where Estelle felt as if she had ceased to exist, but existed at the same time. The noise she had heard that morning came back, so loud that it sounded as if it were inside her head. She stumbled and braced herself against a wall as the sound slowly faded and she felt herself come into being again. She took a step away from the wall, then fell back and braced herself against it, trying not to lose what she had just eaten for breakfast. The Doctor made a face that was somewhere between pity and slight disgust.

"Oh no, you get time sick! I should've warned you, the first few times will leave you a little woozy, but you get used to it after that." She blinked at him.

"What...was that?" He strode casually from the central unit.

"Just a hop, skip, and a jump. I thought I'd start you off small."

"Where are we?"

"Cardiff. The year 2007. I wanted to drop in on an old friend of mine, and I thought that taking you to future Cardiff rather than oh...say...a small planet orbiting Betelgeuse 7 five million years from 1945 would be a bit less of a shock."

"A bit! I'm not sure if I want to thank you or slap you." The Doctor smiled.

"I just have that effect on people. Now, if you're feeling better you can step this way, please." Estelle was still a bit pale and feeling slightly woozy, but was otherwise fine. She held onto the Doctor's arm as they stepped out of the TARDIS.

"But Doctor," Estelle started as he shut the TARDIS's door behind them, "won't people notice a big blue box in the middle of Cardiff?" He shook his head.

"Nah! Humans never notice anything worth noticing. Have to have everything shoved under their noses." She forgot to take umbrage at this comment as she looked around her and her jaw fell open. The Doctor grinned again. "Estelle Colton, welcome to the future."


	5. The Hub

_Disclaimer_: Don't own, except for (in part...personality, I guess) Estelle.

A/N: Thanks so very much to my lovely reviewers! All 3 of you! And also thanks to those of you who put me on your favorites/alert lists. D Sorry the chapter's so short, it's kinda one of those bridge-chapters. You know, to get from point A to point B

_Something Old and Something New_

Cardiff had certainly grown up in the past 60 or so years. Estelle tilted her head back to try and see the tops of the buildings nearest her, then reached for the Doctor's arm again as she got a dizzying kind of reverse-vertigo. She blinked at the buildings and didn't bother keeping her jaw off of the ground.

"Doctor...? Is this _really_ where we are in 60 years?"

"Yup!" the Doctor said cheerily, rocking back and forth on his feet. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?" She nodded and took a few steps backwards in a further attempt to locate the tops of the skyscrapers. "Oy! Watch it!" The Doctor pulled her back a few seconds before a taxi went whizzing by, its driver leaning on the horn. Except...it wasn't the kind of taxi Estelle remembered. She pulled her gaze from the buildings to the taxi, then the street in front of her.

"Doctor? Those aren't..._automobiles_, are they?"

"They sure are! Some of the faster ones can even reach 332 miles per hour," he added with a small smile. She whipped around to look at him.

"No!"

"Yes!" She motioned to the street.

"And these ones? How fast do these go?" He wrinkled his nose as he thought for a moment.

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe...190 miles per, at the very most. And that's a high-end sports car, mind you." He motioned to an example of one as he said this. Estelle gawped. "And you haven't even seen the best of Cardiff."

"Why? What's the best?"

"Torchwood." With the one word, the Doctor's face lit up. He grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards a nearby fountain.

"Torchwood? What's that?"

"You'll see! This is the friend of mine we're dropping in on." Estelle shrugged and went along, gaping at everything around her as they passed, marveling at how Cardiff didn't look like Cardiff anymore.

The fine mist floating through the air had brought moisture back to Estelle's hair, the loose strands of which now lay in damp waves along her cheeks and the back of her neck. She pulled the blue ribbon--Jack had given it to her; he'd always loved the color blue on her--out of her hair and tied it around her wrist, shaking the braid free as they went. The Doctor glanced back as he pulled her to the fountain.

"That's a lot of hair..." he murmured. Estelle nodded.

"Haven't cut it since I was 9. I--" She cut herself off with a short scream as a platform started to lower. She clung to the Doctor as it continued down. "And I suppose this is a normal part of the future, too, eh?" He shrugged.

"Not particularly. I mean, there _are_ elevators, but not many hidden ones like this. Torchwood is top secret, you see." Estelle blinked and shook her head. It was all too much for her to absorb at once. At the entrance of Torchwood stood a man in a suit, as if waiting to greet them. He looked up and stared at the Doctor.

"You're him, aren't you? You're the Doctor." The Doctor smiled and stuck out his hand.

"I see he's told you about me, then. I suppose you'd be part of his crew, then, eh? What's your name, then?" The man in the suit took the proffered hand.

"Ianto Jones." The Doctor grinned, again the grin that clearly expressed how glad he was that you were here.

"Pleased to meet you, Ianto Jones. This is my companion, Estelle Colton." Estelle gave her hand to Ianto when he held out his and he kissed the back of her hand. She smiled and bobbed a curtsey.

"Glad to see they still have manners," she said to the Doctor. He shrugged.

"Apparently only Mr. Jones here. 1945," he quickly added to Ianto as an explanation. Ianto nodded, understanding.

"Would you like a tour of the Torchwood hub, Ms. Colton?" Ianto asked, guiding her through a door with a hand on the small of her back. "He's not in yet," he added over his shoulder to the Doctor. "Late night Weevil hunting. He should be in shortly, but he'll be tired." The Doctor nodded.

"Just dropping in to say hi while we fuel up." Ianto nodded and proceeded to give them both a tour of the hub. At one point their tour was interrupted by a man in the coat of a British Revolutionary officer. Ianto pursed his lips and they nodded curtly to each other.

"Jon."

"Ianto."

"Ms. Colton, Doctor, this is Captain Jon Hart. Jon, the Doctor and Ms. Colton." The Doctor and Estelle each shook hands with the captain in turn. Jon smirked at Estelle and pulled her a bit closer when she shook hands with him.

"Well, hello. Have you got a first name, Ms. Colton?"

"Estelle." She stared up at him, unsure if she was attracted to him or disgusted by him, as he wound an arm around her shoulder.

"So, Estelle, the thought just popped into my head. You're with the Doctor, so you must be new to this time, right?" Estelle nodded. "Well, so am I. I'm even new to the _planet_. So how about you and I go out a bit later and discover the wonders of this time period _together_?" Estelle picked up his hand with two fingers, as if handling garbage, and disentangled herself.

"Captain Hart, I'm sure the wonders _you're _talking about are fairly common, no matter what time _or_ planet you're from. I'm sorry, sir, but quite frankly I'm very taken and very not interested." Jon looked struck and hurt that he'd been turned down.

"But..."

"Good day, Captain Hart." Estelle strode coolly past him and waited behind a door for Ianto to take the lead again.

"Taken?" the Doctor said in a hoarse whisper. "You never said anything about a boyfriend."

"Husband, actually," Estelle whispered back, holding out her left hand to show the simple band Jack had scraped enough money together to buy. "He...he died in the War. I don't know why I still wear this silly thing, I know he's not coming back, but it usually helps to keep away unwanted gentlemen like Captain Hart."

"Coming back?" She nodded.

"He's actually still counted as MIA, since they haven't found a body and nobody can confirm that he's KIA, but I've just been assuming. I mean, he would've found a way back to me if he were still alive. He's always found a way..." The Doctor put a hand on Estelle's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I am so very sorry." She nodded and bit back tears.

"Thank you." Just then, a voice rang through the hub.

"DADDY'S HOME!" The Doctor's mouth broke into another of those fantastic grins and he took Estelle by the hand.

"Estelle, there's someone I want you to meet." Estelle dumbly followed him down the stairs and out to where a familiar figure in a very familiar coat was standing. The Doctor didn't stop until they were face-to-face.

"Estelle Colton, I'd like you to meet Capt--"

"_Jack?_" They gawped at each other.

"_Estelle?!_"


	6. Something Borrowed

_Disclaimer_: If I owned this, I would be flying through time and space with Jack and the Doctor, not writing fanfic.

A/N: Again, much thanks to my lovely reviewers. ReviewsLove. D

_Something Old and Something New_

Captain Jack Harkness stared in disbelief at Estelle Harkness, and she stared back. Ianto and the Doctor looked back and forth between the two, then exchanged glances with each other. Wordlessly, they both turned on their heels and walked out, stopping behind the nearest doorway to listen. A slow smile spread across Jack's lips.

"Estelle--!"

_SLAP!_

Jack staggered backwards from the force of the blow and touched his cheek gingerly. Before recovering from this last blow, he felt another land in his stomach. Doubled over for a moment, he was subject to a further series of blows before he was able to begin blocking them.

"YOU STUPID, FILTHY, TWO-TIMING, NO GOOD--!"

"Estelle! Estelle!" Jack's cries for mercy could barely be heard beneath Estelle's abuses. "Stella, please! I can explain!" Jack caught up both of her wrists and twisted her around, crossing her arms across her chest and pinning her hands by her shoulders.

"Let me _go_!" She struggled vainly to be released. "You have no right to touch me, you...you...filthy, good-for-nothing Casanova Yankee soldier!" A look of pain crossed Jack's face and he caught her up in what was partially a hug, and partially an embrace meant to restrain her. For the first time in anyone's memory, Captain Jack Harkness had been truly wounded.

"Estelle...please listen to me," he said softly, gently placing a kiss on her shoulder. "I can explain everything to you if you'll only listen." Tears began to slide down her cheeks, hanging from her chin and nose like icicles for a few seconds before dropping down onto Jack's arm.

"You never came back," she croaked. "You never even wrote. There had better be a decent explanation for this, Jonathan Harkness." Jack nodded solemnly.

"Just...come with me. I'll explain everything, I'll tell you everything. I promise." Estelle sniffled and nodded. Captain Jon Hart appeared over Ianto's shoulder as Jack led the quietly crying girl away into another room.

"Who the bloody hell d'you suppose _she_ was?" Ianto heaved a heavy-hearted sigh.

"The yellow ribbon."

Jack had always worn the yellow ribbon somewhere on his person, always either peaking out of a pocket or on some occasions tied round his wrist. Ianto had asked on several occasions what the ribbon was for, but Jack would only shake his head and say "remembrance." Jon had had similar experiences, but had kept this to himself.

"When did you say you picked her up?" Ianto asked, turning to the temporarily forgotten Doctor.

"Hmm? Oh. Umm...this morning, 1945. Why?" Ianto nodded.

"She's the yellow ribbon."

"What? What yellow ribbon?"

"Jack always has a yellow ribbon," Jon spoke up before Ianto, who looked at him in surprise, could say anything. "He won't say what it's for or from, but he's always got that stupid ribbon with him."

"Did he always have it?" Ianto couldn't keep himself from asking. The ribbon had been a point of interest for him for a long time. "I mean, back when you two were...you know..."

"Working together? No. Only after he disappeared and met this one." Jon jerked his head over to the Doctor. Ianto and Jon came to the same conclusion at the same moment and looked over at the Doctor questioningly.

"Me? Oh, no! I didn't give it to him. Neither did Rose. He got it after we parted ways. It must've been sometime between Rose bringing him back and when he met you."

The voices coming from behind the closed door had been gradually getting louder and louder, and were only just now noticeable. Though it was clear there was a fight, words were not distinguishable. Jon, Ianto, and the Doctor looked at each other for a few moments in silent debate, then all (calmly) walked over and pressed their ears to the cool metal door.

"..._Trust_ you, Jack?! How do I know it's not just another lie?"

"Because...because it isn't, alright? I swear to you, I never fell in love with anyone else. There was only ever you." The Doctor looked at Ianto and Jon, who were exchanging hurt looks. There was the distinctive sound of a slap.

"Don't touch me! How do I know that _that_ wasn't a lie? I mean, you lied to me about everything else!"

"What? _What _did I lie to you about?"

"You told me you were 32, you told me you were from New York, you told me you were a soldier, that you would never leave me, that you would write once you got to Germany! You told me that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, when you apparently _knew _that that was impossible! You lied about _everything_, Jack! So _how_ do I know this isn't another one of your lies?"

"Because those others...they were necessary. I _couldn't_ tell you about Torchwood, about the Time Agency, about where I came from; they would have killed you if I'd told you, and I just couldn't bear that, Estelle. But there was one thing that I never lied about, and it's that I love you. I always have and I _always_ will. Estelle, when I married you I gave myself to you heart and soul, and that's one promise that I kept." Estelle snorted.

"Do you think I'm _stupid_, Jack? Do you _really_ think I'm that dumb?"

"What--?"

"Those men out there! The Welshman and the soldier! I saw the way they looked at you, Jack. They're both in love with you, and you know it." Jack heaved a heavy sigh.

"It's far more complicated than that, Estelle. Jon and I worked together before I ever knew you. And Ianto..." Jack trailed off and sighed again.

"So you're with them both, then?" Her voice had lowered to where the three eavesdroppers could barely hear her. "You just..._moved on_. Could you have if you were really in love with me, Jack?"

"Estelle--"

"_Could you?_" There was a long pause in which there was soft, muffled sobbing.

"Estelle?" Jack called in a weirdly sing-songy voice. "Stella Blue Eyes?"

"It's not working this time, Jack." A pause. "Stop it Jack! ...I mean it, _stop!_" There was the thud of staggering footsteps; Estelle had apparently pushed him off of her. Jack sighed again.

"Stella, I haven't moved on. I could never _ever_ forget about you; you are the one person I have ever truly loved with all my heart. And when I was dragged off that train, it killed me inside because I knew that I couldn't see you or write to you to tell you that I was okay. There hasn't been one day that I've lived that I haven't thought about you."

"Is that what you tell all of them?" There was the sound of Jack kicking over some sort of furniture.

"Dammit, Estelle!"

"Don't swear, Jack!"

"Well, if you would just believe me...! ...Here! Is this enough proof for you?!" There was another short pause before a weird choking noise and more sobbing was heard. Jack's voice became gentler. "I just want you to believe me, Estelle." Tears were cracking his voice. "I want you to believe that I never stopped thinking about you, not for one second." There were a few seconds where crying was the prominent noise in the room. Then Estelle's voice came, muffled seemingly by cloth.

"I need time to think. I think I'll take a walk, go see what else is new in Cardiff." Ianto, Jon, and the Doctor had just enough time to scatter and appear to have been busy when Estelle walked through the door, hair a mess and face tearstained. "I...I'm going to go for a short walk," she stammered. "Don't worry, I won't go far. I just want to see how Cardiff's changed since this morning." She attempted and failed at faking a smile. She held her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle a choke of a sob, and in that hand was clutched a silk yellow ribbon. Before the door closed, Jack could be seen in a chair, elbows on his knees and head in his hands.

"You three are absolutely incorrigible." Gwen Cooper leaned on a doorframe. "To see you, standing with your ears at doors like three gossiping old biddies." She shook her head and smiled gently. "Shall I finish giving you the grand tour, Doctor?"

* * *

Go on! Press the review button! You know you want to! Free cheese and/or chocolate of your choice to anyone who reviews! TENTH DOCTOR PLUSHIES FOR ALL!!


	7. Someone Blue

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. I only own Estelle, and even that is only partial; the Torchwood people own her, mostly. I just gave her a personality.

A/N: Ok, so this is where T-rating comes in. This fic is a SMUT-FREE ZONE, but it _is_ suggested. I have a feeling that this fic only has a chapter or two left in it.

_Something Old and Something New_

"So...what was that about?" the Doctor asked, putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. Gwen had finished giving him the tour, and he'd come back to find Jack in the same position he'd left him in. Jack took a deep, shuddering breath.

"She um...We..." He let out the breath and shook his head. "She called me a good-for-nothing Casanova soldier, Doctor!" The Doctor shrugged.

"Well..."

"No, you don't get it. That's what her dad used to call me...every time she even mentioned my name...Man, he used to turn so red..." He half-smiled reminiscently.

"You knew her father, then?" Jack finally lifted his reddened face out of his hands and looked at the Doctor.

"She was my wife. I was called away during the War. I...I never saw her again. At least, not as myself. When she was older--an old woman, at least sixty--and I knew she was losing her memory, I found her again...posing as my own son." The Doctor stood there, his eyes widening slowly as the shock and horror of what he'd done sank in.

"I'm sorry. I am so very sorry. She said her name was Colton, if I'd had any idea who she was...I never..." Jack shook his head.

"You couldn't have known. Colton was her maiden name...I guess she presumed me dead. I guess it's better for her to know than to spend the rest of her life wondering." The Doctor nodded. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Jack? Wouldn't she have recognized you, though, if she knew that you couldn't die? I mean, senile is one thing, but not many people would forget something like _that _any time soon." Jack felt his heart sink into his stomach.

"Then that must mean...Oh, God..." He dropped his face into his hands again.

"What?"

"I ret-conned her," he mumbled through his palms. "She won't remember any of this...you, me, Ianto, Cardiff, any of it." The Doctor put a consoling hand on Jack's shoulder again, then sighed and sat across from Jack on the edge of the bed.

"It's better for her in the end, you know. It'll help her move on, not knowing you're still alive. There's nothing more terrible than a life half-lived." Jack nodded.

"I know." He sighed. "But...why can't she just stay here? I mean...she's just one woman...she doesn't even know that many people in Cardiff."

"You _know_ that's not how it works, Jack." He nodded again. There was a small cough at the doorway and both men looked up. Estelle stood in the doorway, looking drenched head-to-foot. Exactly how long she'd been there neither of them knew, but the Doctor knew when to butt out. He stood up, patting Jack on the shoulder once more. "I think I'll take a look at those Weevils, they seemed like an interesting study." He left quickly, bowing his head quickly as he passed Estelle.

"How much of that did you hear?" Jack asked, not turning around. Estelle took a few more steps into the room and closed the door behind her.

"What's retcon?" Jack flinched.

"It...It makes you forget."

"How long?"

"The previous 24 hours."

"And I'll never remember?"

"Not a thing. Even if something _does _manage to slip through, it'll only be vague...like a half-remembered dream." Estelle walked around and sat on the same spot on Jack's bed the Doctor had sat.

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"For what?"

"Everything. For not believing you, for screaming, for calling you...well..._that_." Jack scoffed at her inability to call him names now that she'd cooled down. "For hitting you." She gently touched Jack's cheek where a bruise was already blossoming across his face. "It's just...when I saw you, I was so happy at first. Then I felt betrayed...like you never trusted me with any of your secrets, or anything real that actually mattered to you." As she began to withdraw her hand, Jack caught it in his and held it tightly.

"I was trying to forget all of it, I was hoping that it would never come back. Because, Estelle, _you_ were all that was real, _you _were all that mattered to me." She couldn't help but grin. She leaned forward and kissed him gently, and for a moment it was just like old times. He scooted forward in his chair and wrapped an arm around her. Eventually, Jack left his chair and leaned Estelle backwards onto the bed.

* * *

Estelle sighed contently and adjusted herself a little. Jack, straddling her thighs, pressed his fingers into her lower back. She closed her eyes and smiled as she inhaled deeply the scent of Jack that lingered on the pillow.

"I love you, Jack," she sighed. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her smooth back, between her shoulder blades.

"I love you too, Estelle." As his hands moved skillfully up her back, she pulled her arms out from beneath her and plunged them up to the elbow beneath the pillow her head rested on.

"I'll never forget this."

"But the retconn--"

"Retconn nothing! Even if it only seems like a dream, I'll never forget this." She let out a small gasp, then a long, broken moan as Jack pressed his thumb into a hard knot of muscle by her left shoulder.

"Was that a good noise or a bad noise?"

"Hard to tell," she grunted through clenched teeth. He pressed on the knot again and she scrunched up her shoulders and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Relax." Jack pulled her shoulders down away from her ears and continued massaging the knot until it had finally been worked out. He kissed the spot and slid down beside her on his side.

"You're good at that." He graced her with that grin that had always made her melt.

"You're not too bad, yourself," he joked. She smiled, half-embarrassed, and shoved playfully at his arm.

"At massaging! You knew what I meant!"

"Yeah," he admitted. "But it was much more fun to twist your words." She rolled her eyes and scooted closer to him, burying her face in his chest. She placed a kiss on his chest where she could reach.

"I wish we could just stop time here." She yawned quietly. "Then everything would be perfect." She entwined her legs with his and wrapped her arms around his ribs.

"Yeah..." The sadness returned to Jack's eyes as he laced is fingers together behind Estelle's back and rested his chin on top of her head. "I love you, Estelle Harkness." This came out as barely more than a whisper. She sighed and kissed the spot on his chest again.

"I love you too, Jack Harkness," she returned sleepily. It wasn't long before her breathing became deeper and steadier and Jack was left, wide awake, in deep contemplation while holding the sleeping form of his wife.


	8. Red Wine and Retconn

**Disclaimer: I OWN IT ALLL!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!**

A/N: So...yeah. Really short chapter, but here it is. The end. Special thanks to my constant reviewers for their support and...well...reviews. )

_Something Old and Something New_

When Estelle first awoke, it seemed like daylight behind her eyelids. Once she'd made herself pry her eyes open, she saw that it was only the soft glow from the lamp on the nightstand. Beside the lamp was a glass of red wine.

"Ah, you're awake." Jack shut the bathroom door and did a sort of sliding belly-flop onto the bed. Estelle giggled as she sat up and took the glass by the stem.

"You remembered," she said, a little impressed. Jack grinned.

"I remembered," he repeated dutifully. "How could I forget your one vice?" He crawled up her legs. "No smoking," he kissed her shoulder, "no swearing," he kissed her neck, "and no drinking..." he kissed her gently on the lips, "except for a little morning-after red wine." She smiled and took a slip as Jack settled himself back under the sheets.

"Care for some?" she asked, holding out the glass. He shook his head at the proffered wine.

"No thanks. You know me, hard liquor kind of guy." She shrugged.

"Suit yourself." She sipped delicately, then leaned her head on Jack's shoulder and sighed deeply. "Just thought I'd like to tell you again, Jack: I love you." He smiled, turned, and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, too." As Estelle continued to gradually drain the glass, her vision started blurring and she became aware of a sort of nebulous buzzing in her head that prevented her from thinking clearly.

"Jack...I feel funny..." He closed his eyes and bit his lip. She sat up and shut her eyes tight and shook her head vigorously, then opened her eyes wide as if she expected this to keep her eyes from crossing. She looked blankly at the empty glass, then at Jack as she tried to form the thought completely. "The wine...you put that...that stuff in it...didn't you?" Jack blinked back tears.

"Estelle...I'm so sorry. It just...it has to be this way. I'm sorry..." He searched her face desperately, looking for some sign of blame or forgiveness, but she just remained impassive-looking as she tried to process his words.

"I forgive you," she said finally, tears forming in her eyes. She leaned forward and kissed him gently. She leaned forward, wrapping an arm around him, and said softly in his ear, "You will...always be the...the One."

Her weight suddenly seemed heavier and the wine glass fell out of her hand and sideways onto the bed. Jack leaned her unconscious form back and began redressing her for her journey back to her own time. This accomplished, he pulled his own clothes on, righted the wine glass, and carried Estelle bridal-style out through the door where the Doctor waited.

"You're ready?" the Doctor asked. Jack shook his head.

"I'll never be ready." The Doctor's expression softened significantly as Jack handed Estelle over to him. "Just...be careful with her, okay?" The Doctor nodded.

"I promise."

* * *

Estelle Harkness awoke with a trace of a smile on her lips. The faint noise that seemed so far away, the one that sounded halfway between a scraping and a whirring, wasn't enough to disturb her from the dream she'd just had. The smile only fell when she rolled over and opened her eyes to reality. She'd wanted to tell Jack about the wild, yet wonderful, dream she'd just had...to discover the reality she'd had to face every morning for three years. She sighed as she admitted to herself, yet again, that Jack was gone. He was not coming back.


End file.
